World Wetlands Day at Gibraltar Carlson High School a Major Success!
February 10, 2011
World Wetlands Day was celebrated on Feb. 9, 2011 at Gibraltar Carlson High School (Gibraltar, Michigan, USA) with a Wetlands Expo (featuring displays from more than 20 organizations dedicated to wetland conservation) from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and a program that featured presentations by Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge Manager Dr. John Hartig, Plant Director of DTE Energy's Trenton Channel and River Rouge Power Plants Lynette Dowler and District Supervisor of Land and Water Management Division of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Andrew Hartz.
The program also included a guest appearance by Rachel Carson (played by Dorothy McLeer, naturalist and interpreter at University of Michigan-Dearborn's Environmental Interpretive Center) and a Congressional Proclamation from U.S. Congressman John Conyers (read by District Representative Jane Mackey). More than 1,100 students attended the wetlands expo throughout the day and more than 300 students and community supporters attended the program celebrating the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance.
In 2010, Humbug Marsh was designated Michigan's first Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. Humbug Marsh, located on the lower end of the Detroit River in the cities of Gibraltar and Trenton, Michigan, is considered an internationally important wetland because of its ecological importance in the Detroit River corridor and the Great Lakes Basin Ecosystem. Humbug Marsh is also a part of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge and represents the last mile of natural shoreline on the U.S. mainland of the Detroit River. Humbug Marsh serves as a vital habitat for 51 species of fish, 90 species of plants, 154 species of birds, seven species of reptiles and amphibians, and 37 species of dragonflies and damselflies.